In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and from different parts of its body. The nervous
Horizontal section of the head of an adult female human, showing skin, skull, and brain with gray matter (brown in this image) and underlying white matter
Major elements in synaptic transmission. An electrochemical wave called an action potential travels along the axon of a neuron. When the wave reaches a synapse, it provokes release of a small amount of neurotransmitter molecules, which bind to chemical receptor molecules in the membrane of the target cell.
Illustration of pain pathway, from René Descartes's Treatise of Man
Layers protecting the brain and spinal cord
The human brain is the central organ of the nervous system, and with the spinal cord, comprises the central nervous system. It consists of the cerebrum, the brainstem and the cerebellum. The brain con
A human brain, removed during an autopsy
Human brain (sagittal section)
Primary and secondary vesicle stages of development in the early embryo to the fifth week